Remembering Her
by luvmealot
Summary: To remember one's love, is a chance not given to everyone, so when Sabrina leaves Brady for Puck on their wedding day, Brady takes the chance to reflect on their relationship.


Brady sat on the wooden steps in the cathedral. He shifted as a metal nail dug into his backside but quickly moved back into the same position as he was before. The pain, however slight, helped him ignore the true pain, the heart break. He could feel a warmth on his face as light filtered through the broken window, the shattered glass still lay on the carpet below. It was where he entered, the ignorant, egotistical fairy who stole his beloved's heart long before Brady himself had a chance.

_What did I do to deserve this? Why would Sabrina feel the need to use me, when she knew she still love him? _ Brady already knew the answer, his known the answer from years, for the fairy was her first love. The fairy was the one she gave all her secrets to, the one she feel into so completely she was never able to dig her way out.

He remembered when he saw her, 8 years ago. He remembered the exact jingle that played as the door to the restaurant swing open; he remembered as he looked up, he didn't see an ordinary girl, but an angel. She was so beautiful, her blond hair flowed perfectly to her back and her smile was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. He could tell, though, that she was weighted with something, whether it be experiences or heartbreak, but it only made her more beautiful, that she could be so strong. Most of all he remembered the times, after this, when he would whisper the entire story into her ears, and her giggles that came after.

_Maybe she was just mocking him, maybe those laughs where not of love, but sorrow for the love-struck boy that she knew would end up realizing that she never loved him._ Brady stood up, and walked out the church doors, people milled about the street, chattering and laughing, rushing about their busy lives. A few stopped and looked at him, he was still in his tuxedo, but none stopped to speak with him, like she did. He had seen her a few days after the restaurant, walking around town, and would often ask himself how come he never noticed such a beautiful girl. One day, he was sitting on a bench, staring at the lake that edged Ferryport Landing, and wondering to himself, what would happen if I just got in a boat and drifted down the lake until I reached the end. Then he felt the bench shift and looked up to see her, the angle, and mere 1 foot away from him. "Hi," he said. She looked up in surprise and whispered, "Hi."

"Beautiful isn't it."

"What?"

"The lake," he gestured to it.

"Quite."

They both feel silent. They watched the lake, together, they saw the soft ripples in the waves, and they watched the sun set as the sky burst into flames. Strokes of pink and orange flashed through the sky and slowly bended together, eventually they faded, leaving the dark sky in its place.

"Bye."

Brady looked up in surprise. For the past hour they had sat in silence but now she was gathering her things and preparing to leave. Just as she was taking the first steps away from the bench, Brady found his voice and shouted to her retreating backside," Wait! What is your name?"

She stopped, turned her head, flashed him a twinkling smile, and replied, "Well, you are just doing to have to find out, aren't you." And she walked away with a flip of her hair.

Brady smiled grimly out into the ocean, and fiddled with the tie on his tuxedo. Light reflected of the subtle waves dancing across the oceans. A single, salty tear trailed down his check and dripped into his hand. The sight of the clear dome resting in his palm inspired more tears to fall down his check, until he was hunched over sobbing into his lap. Eventually, the steady flow of footsteps behind him dissolved to a couple taps here and there, and he stood up and went home.

He unlocked to door to his (and her) apartment, and nearly threw up at the sight in front of him. Her presence was palpable in the room. Her makeup lay littered on a coffee table; her perfume permeated the air, photos of them, together, hung on the wall. Brady shook with anger; he still remembered when she hung those up.

They had been dating for about a year, and Sabrina had just moved in. But to Brady's astonishment, the first thing she did wasn't to unpack her bags, but to take out and bunch of framed photos and proceed to hang them on the walls.

"What are you doing?"

"Hanging pictures," said Sabrina without distracting herself from her task.

"Yeah, I can see that, but why?"

Sabrina looked up at him this, and responded slowly," because, there are far too many memories for any of to remember for very long, isn't there." She turned back to the wall.

"Far too many," Brady agreed.

Looking back, he regretted it, ever letting her hang the pictures all over the wall. Her footprint lay lingering in the walls on the home, the most prominent rested upon the walls. He walked over the wall, memory flashed through his mind with each picture. Their first date, the first time he meet her family, when she moved in, when he proposed… Brady sunk to the ground, gripping at straws, trying to remember only the good, but the bad marked each memory: his loss.

There were times, though, when she made it very obvious of her grief. That she wasn't over the fairy. There were times when she would drift, remembering her first love, but she rarely cried. Then again, there are always exceptions.

He remembered the time when he had come home early from his job at the City Hall. He was one of the personal assistants of the Mayor. He wanted to surprise her, she taught sword fighting, but she was sick that day, and terribly moody due to it. He quietly opened the door, and carefully placed her favorite takeout on the kitchen counter. He sunk up the stairs, getting ready to scare her, but he could hear a choking sound from the guest room and went to investigate. As he padded across the carpeted hallway, the gasping sounds grew louder, and turned to gut-wrenching sobs. He cracked open the door, the light made him squint, but he could see her laying against the wall and holding something. _A picture frame_, Brady realized. She was bent over, her knuckles were white from holding the frame too tightly, and she shook with grief. Suddenly, she stood up. _She saw me!_ Brady looked around in pain. But there was a crash, and on the ground lay a broken picture frame. Brady looked for Sabrina, but she had entered the guest bathroom, and he could hear the shower running.

He quickly entered the room, walking over to the broken frame, with shards of glass scattered around it. There were two people in the picture, Sabrina, and the fairy, Puck. They were looking at each other, they both looked so young and in love, Brady could literally feel his heart break. That picture reminded him that he would never really have her love, that he would never really be a part of her, for Puck took up to much space. But Brady didn't break up with her, he loved her too much to let her go, even if she didn't return the feeling.

_I wish I broke up with her then, and then I could have avoided this._ Brady stared into the dark room. He looked into the hallways, remembering when they had danced through them. He looked into the kitchen, where no matter what she did, could never get the hang of cooking. He saw the dining room, where they had talked about their day and laughed over his boss's intense love for perfect hair. He saw her presence radiating off the walls of his,_ their_, apartment. He saw their bedroom, where every night, they would show their love for each other. He saw her blond hair, her deep blue eyes, and her radiant smile. He saw her contagious laugh, and her scalding comments.

He knew that with every relationship there was heartbreak, some more than others. But if he had to live his life over he knew that Sabrina would still be there. She would still be his love, and he would still let her break his heart on their wedding day. Through the past 6 years, they may not have had the healthiest relationship, with one stuck in the past, and one too far into the future, they were not the most compatible.

They were each other's anchor, the lifeline their held in the most rough waves. They both had baggage caused by heavy childhoods. But she was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he would never doubt that.

With that conclusion, Brady took in the apartment one last time, and with a smile on his face, he slept.


End file.
